Means of cutting pipe



Dwz, 1941. EEUNELL '2,265,082

MEANS OF CUTTING PIPE Filed April 8' 1959 Patented Dec. 2, 1941 MEANS0F. CUTTING Frames-10min, Glendale, oa1if.'assigner zo L. oNeiu,Glendale,` Calif;

ApplicatonApril 8,?1939,5SerialnNo. 266,766 f 2 Claims.

f This-invention relates itooil eldequipmentl andf'particularly-pertains tora-Inethod-'and means i Attire: presentvtixneJ itoftenVoccurs that a4 Well casingforitubingg or afpipeilineymust be per-Aforated or-severed without interrupting service throughiit, andfwhilethen-uid flowingthroug'h itl-lisunder'extrenie' pressurelor may behighly expl'osivei- Irl suchlinstancesthe pipe-'must be perforated and'tappedby'-' mechanical cuttersY which-fare `difficult i3d-handle;andfwhich of neconduit when vthe-wall :of t4the conduit has beenperfdratedf Inf-the `event-that?ther pipe is cut with-"ra torch thereispossibility loatfan explosion immediately vafter the perforationhasfbeen made. It' is': :the principal .object l-otfthe presentinventi'oiif; therefore,` tolpr-ovide? simple and' effectivemeanswh'erebyfthe-f wall' ofa1 conduit may bev perferatedwithbut danger.of: objectionably releasing the pressure of such fiuid as mayrbepresent4in la .conduitorto permitthe. escape of explosive-'fluidinfamanner tomake an explosion likely@ The -ir`1vention particularlycontemplates thattheperforationwillbe cut bythe use of lan abrasivefiiu-id;suchfdrexam-plev as the drillingfliiidiavailablefin anfoiLwell,or-oth'er fluids carrying suspended Tsoli'ds offan abrasive character.`

Theinven-tiorr is illustratedfbyfway Aofexampleinfthefaecompanyingdrawing; in which:

' Eig-uned iis .val-rviewilirrplan sl'iowinggtrhe` present inventionasapplie'dwto a 'cylindrical casing or tubinge- Fig.-l 2-lisf ay Viewinatransverse section through the structure as seen on-the1line-2S-2fofFig. 14.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view in section showingran alternate formofthevalve element.

Referring more particularly to the drawing,

Ui indicates a tubular element having a cylindrical wall which is to beperforated. It is understood that within this element a fluid may bepresent which is under excessive pressure or which may be explosive incharacter. When an emergency arises requiring that the member l!) Isectional formation of the collar structure may aseat 3.7'rin 4thevalvehousing .2 3.;

bevaried.asrequiredfbut is here shownV as being channelr shaped'and thusproviding a xuid .passageway l8r.; directlyh around the pipe I0. Thechannel section. includes the circumferential pori; tion Ll 9 :and apairlof :parallel flanges 2 and 2 l These flanges are here shown ashavinggrooves in their-facesl tosreceive suitable packing ZZ'and toniakeafiuid-tightseal between the collar Il and'lthe pipe lili- In.v thecollar segment.v l 2"a valve housing Y23 iis formed. This -isfh`ereyshown as being formedv with aftapered-` seati 24,1inters'ected bylongitudinally alignedpass'ageWays iandl 26. Mounted in theseated:portionr24 vis `a frustoeconical valve 5 2'l:having.a trunnionJ28 atone end. The trunnien4 28 fpreferably. lits.V within' a blind bearingseatiwithin the housing; Ati the opposite end of the valve'elernent'l isa'stemcZSleXtending through a bearin'gicollar 30; This collar is pref-"'erably threaded into position and'holds a packing-. ringYY 3l .iinplace I to prevent leakage. Anf operating elementsuch'asthe knob32, iscarried uponfstem 2S.; EXtendingLth'roughf the valve element 2 is anopening.33f which aligns with thev passagewaysf 25 '1 and. 2tt'o form acontinuous passageway through the fva'lve housing. 23 'and the valveelement'2'i; fon a'purpose to -b'e hereinafter described.

' Perforations` in Ithe present .instanceare made fby. the action of an.abrasive fluid delivered through' a. conduit'Sdfrom some source offiuidunder.l pressure. Connectedy to the end of: the conduit is l.alnozzle35; here shown asv formed anenlarged: collar 36which seatswithin Itisintended. thati th'erfn'oz-zle.A 35 'willf` be l. axially. aligned withthefpassageways: 2 5 f :and '2t in the housing v'andv the passageway 33through the valve element 2T when the valve element is rotated to itsopen position, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing. The length of thenozzle 35 is such as to permit it to extend through the opening 26 andto terminate adjacent to the surface of the wall of the pipe I3. Thenozzle structure is held in position by a bolting plate 39, whichengages the collar 3G and is secured by bolts 40. The conduit 3Q issecured suitably to the plate 39 and thus held in position with relationto the nozzle 35.

In order to relieve the fluid from the chamber I8 within the collar ll apipe connection 4| is provided and may be tted with a valve 42. It willalso be evident that this pipe connection may be used as a draw-off pipewhen a perforation has been made and after the perforatwhich the valve21 is opened so that the per.A

forating nozzle 35 may extend therethrough and be clamped by the plate39. Perforatingnpera: tions are then initiated by delivering an abrasiveuid under pressure through the pipe 34 so that this uid will beprojected in a jet from" the nozzle 35 and will impinge against the-surface from the nozzle 35 as would be the case in Fig. 2 of thedrawing.

It will thus be seen that by the method and means here shown it ispossible to perform the operation known in the oil industry as hottapping, whereby a uid line may be tapped without interruption of theflow of fluid therethrough regardless of its pressure or its character,and whereby the tapping operation may be produced by a simple, effectiveand safe cutting medium.

It should also be pointed out that by this method of cutting theoperation is sparkless so that there is no danger of igniting explosiveor iniiammable material within the pipe, that the cutting operationproduces a clean smooth hole without having exerted any pressure againstthe pipe to -distort or strain it, and that furthermore,

. by fthisjmode of cutting no chips are formed since of the pipe I0.'Ihe spent fluid will then ,a c

cumulate within the chamber I8 and may iiow' outwardly through the pipe4I. When a perforation has been completed, as indicated at 43 the huid.from, within the pipe I0 will be free to .lowoutwardly butwill be connedwithin the collar'. I Land may be drawn oi under controlled flow.through the r`valve 42. beseen that thepipey ID. will be sealed at alltimes and thatlthis arrangement will insure that the pressure will notbe appreciably relieved from thepipe or that explosive fluidswill bereleased to,the,atmosphere.. When itis .desiredto re move the nozzle 35the plate-.39 maybe unbolted sothat the nozzle may bequickly withdrawnand the valve, 21 closed- Under such .a condition av relativelysmall.lossofuid wouldv take place. Itis also to .be understood thatsince thenozzles 35.,arelrelatively cheap they might be permanentlyinstalledwithinv the collar vII andA at a point between the valve elementZI andthe pipe. VThis would, make it possible to provide an emergency collarof the type here shown and after perforatingthe pipe ,to leave thecollar in positioniwith thevalves 21 ,closed and the pressure conduitsdisconnected.v

...Inthelorm of the .invention shown in Fig. 3 ofthedrawing. thepipe, 34carrying the pressureuid is shownY as being threadedinto a boss cn thevalve housing, and the nozzle 35 is indicatedas being mounted .withinthe passageway 2.6. and as being .formed with apiston disc 35'ywhichwillbe acted against by fluid pressure to force .the nozzle 35 toitsseated position `and will thus temporarilyV` hold the nozzle 35 inthe bore 26'... When. the structure is disconnected the nozzle..35 maybe removed or interchanged. It will be evident that in this form of theinvention the valve willoperate without any interference It will thusvthe material is abraded microscopically.

` While I have shown the preferred form of my invention as now known tome, it will be understoodthat various changes may be made incombination, construction, and arrangement of parts by those skilledinthe art, without departing from the spirit of my invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim Vanddesire to secure byLetters Patent is: V1,. A device for perforating a pipe within which uidis conned, which comprises an articulate member adapted to embrace thepipe and form a iiuid-tight seal; therewith, V,a fluid ,chamber formedwithin the articulate member and between the `pipe and `said Aarticulatemember, a passagewayleading from the articulate member, av conduitconducting, an `abrasive fluid under pressure to said passageway and tothe chamber within thearticulate member, a nozzle adapted to create ajet within the articulate member and which jet` impinges against thewall of the pipe embraced, anda valveadapted to close the passageway. H

2.` A devicelforl perforating and cutting a pipe within which kfluid isconfined, which comprises a lmember embracing` the pipe and combiningytherewith to form a perforating chamber, said member being capable ofmovement around and over the surface of the pipe while being clampedthereon and forming a fluid seal therewith, a nozzle extending throughthe wall of said embracing member and through which abrasiveY fluidunder pressure is forced to erode an opening through the pipe as theembracing member is moved with relation thereto, and Valve control meansfor draining fluid from the chamber within the embracing member.

FRANK E. ONEILL.

